or 375 



SWEET- GLOVER-SEED SCREENINGS 
NOT INJURIOUS TO SHEEP 

C. DWIGHT MARSH 

Physiologist in Charge of Poisonous Plant Investigations 
and 

GLENWOOD C. ROE 

Assistant in Poisonous Plant Investigations 
Patiiological Division 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT CIRCUIAR 87 



Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 
JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 



NNashingtoii, D. C. May, 1920 



WASHINOTON : OOVERNMENT PRINTINO OFFICE : IMO 



''oaiQgmj^ 



CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Alleged poisoning of stock by sweet-clover seed (Melilotus) 3 

Experimental feeding of sheep 4 

Preliminary trials with screenings of sweet-clover seed 4 

Sweet-clover screenings fed with alfalfa hay 5 

Sweet-clover screenings compared with bran as grain ration 6 

Inferences from the experimental feeding 7 



In the cleaning of sweet-clover seed for market a 
considerable quantity of immature seeds is included 
with the chaff, and the question has been raised of 
the practicability of using these screenings for stock 
feed. There has been some reason to suspect the 
seeds of having poisonous properties. This publi- 
cation gives the result of experimental work with 
sheep. 



NOV 17 193,3 

DIVISION OF DOCUMENf ; 






SWEET-CLOVER SEED SCREENINGS NOT INJURIOUS 

TO SHEEP. 



ALLEGED POISONING OF STOCK BY SWEET CLOVER 
(MELILOTUS). 

In the spring of 1919 the Department of Agriculture received 
a report from a ranch in North Dakota that sheep apparently had 
been killed by eating sweet-clover-seed screenings. The screenings 
consisted largely of immature seeds. About 500 pounds of these 
screenings had been fed in the afternoon to 500 ewes, and the next 
morning four of the animals were found dead. The flock in general 
was in good condition, and it was assumed naturally that the sweet- 
clover seeds might be the cause of the loss. This was the first report 
of the kind that had come to the Department of Agriculture and it 
seemed desirable to investigate the matter rather carefully, as there 
are considerable quantities of these screenings which may be utilized 
for stock feed, if it can be done safely and advantageously. 

Little has been published on the subject. Carrey, in 1888, in 
Journal de Medecine Veterinaire, tells of the deaths of three horses 
in France from paraplegia. These animals had been fed on dry 
lucerne, wheat straw, oats, and dry seeds of Melilotus o-^cinaUs. 
The three animals had received between 2 and 3 liters of Melilotus 
seed daily. The author assumed that the sweet-clover seed was the 
cause of the fatalities. He states further that rabbits fed on the seeds 
of the Melilotus died within a few days. 

Later in the same year, in the same journal, Collas. another French 
investigator, reported the deaths of 10 sheep which had been fed on 
bean straw and ha^ containing a mass of sweet clover in the pod. He 
also reported the illness of a cow which had eaten cooked seed of 
Melilotus, the animal recovering after the grain was removed from 
the rations. Collas says very little in regard to the symptoms 
exhibited. 

In the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 1891, is a state- 
ment, presumably made by Mr. Maiden, that Melilotus parvifora is 
said to paralyze sheep and horses. Maiden, in 1897. saj's that 
Mel'dotiis parviflora paralyzes horses in New South Wales. Miiller, 
in 1897, in his book on poisonous plants, says that the seeds of 
MelUotu.H officinalis are narcotic and to a limited degree poisonous. 

164524»— 20 3 



4 Department Circular 87, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

Ewart and Tore^^ in 1909, discussing the poisonous plants of Vic- 
toria, state that Melilotus contains coumarin, which in excess causes a 
disinclination to locomotion, produces paralysis, and ultimately re- 
sults in death. Pamniel, in 1910, in the "Manual of Poisonous 
Plants," says that Melilotus is looked upon as suspicious. Jepson, in 
1911, in "Flora of Western Middle California," says that cattle in 
California avoid the herbage and the pods are said to be poisonous to 
sheep. Gain and Brocq-Kousseu in " Traite des Foins "■ speak of 
Melilotus as poisonous to horses, cattle, and sheep. Long, in 1917, 
in " Plants Poisonous to Live Stock," quotes Ewart, of Australia. 

The foregoing are all the references that have been found in re- 
gard to the poisonous properties of sweet clover. Apparently the 
published statements are based on the experiences of the French 
investigators, Carrey and Collas, with certain hearsay evidence in 
New South Wales. Australia. 

EXPERIMENTAL FEEDING OF SHEEP. 

PRELIMINARY TRIALS WITH SCREENINGS OF SWEET-CLOVER SEED. 

The Melilotus mateiial used in the experimental feeding, with the 
exception of that given to sheep 537 and 535, was screenings re- 
ceived from North Dakota, consisting largely of immature seeds of 
white sweet clover {Melilotus alha) and containing in addition to the 
chaff, some seeds of green foxtail, j^ellow foxtail, Fremont's goosefoot, 
lambs'-quarters, barnyard grass, and marsh elder. 

The material given sheep Nos. 537 and 535 was commercial material 
from a dealer in Salt Lake City, which was not analyzed by a seed 
expert but appeared to be essentially like the material from North 
Dakota. 

Preliminary trials of feeding the sweet-clover seed were made with 
sheep Nos. 537, 535, 533, and 536. Sheep Nos. 537 and 535 were fed 
from June 24 to July ,1. Nos. 533 and 536 were fed from June 25 
to July 1. The average daily feed per hundred pounds of weight of 
the sheep was as follows : 

Sheep No. 537 1. 79 pounds. 

Sheep No. .535 1. 64 pounds. 

Sheep No. .533 1. 73 pounds. 

Sheep No. .5.3()_ 1.06 pounds. 

At the beginning of the experiment each sheep was given 1 pound 
daily, and this was increased from day to day so that at the end of 
the experiment No. 537 was receiving 2.077 pounds a day; No. 535, 
2.037 pounds a day; No. 533, 2.025 pounds a day; and No. 536, 2 
pounds a day. These animals received nothing except the sweet- 
clover screenings. 

The quantity given at the beginning of the experiment, of course, 
was not sufficient to maintain the weight of the animal, granting that 



Sweet-Clover Seed Screenings Not Injurious to Sheep. 5 

sweet-clover seed is good feed, but at the end of the experiment the 
quantity eaten might be considered as a maintenance ration. The 
weights of the animals at the beginning and at the end of the ex- 
periment are given in Table 1. All the sheep lost weight, but there 
was no other evidence of any injurious effect, and the loss of weight 
might be ascribed to insufficient feed. The animals did not show 
any indication of digestive disturbances, although that might have 
been expected from the use of a single concentrated feed. 

The length of the experiment and the quantity of the feed were 
sufficient to lead one to infer that the seeds had no poisonous qualities. 

Table 1. — Weifihts uf xhrct> before and after fcedinii. 



Sheep No. 


Before feeding. 


After feeding. 


Date. 


Pounds. 


Date. i Pounds. 


537 


June 21 
Jiuie 19 
.Tune 19 
June 23 


81 

93.5 
97 
99 


1 
Julv 2 76.5 
Julv 2 87.5 . 
Julv 2 86.5 
July 2 1 86.5 


535 


533 


536 





SWEET-CLOVER SCREENINGS FED WITH ALFALFA HAY. 

In the preceding experiment the animals ate only the sweet-clover 
seed. To determine what effects, if any, would follow the use of 
the sweet-clover seed in addition to other feed, two sheep, Xos. 542 
and 534, were given all the alfalfa hay they could eat, and in addi- 
tion it was planned to give each of them a pound of sweet-clover 
screenings daily per hundred pounds of animal. Sheep No. 542 re- 
ceived this ration from July 2 to August 3, eating a total of 33.049 
pounds, or an average of 1 pound a day. Sheep No. 534 was fed from 
July 8 to August 3 on the same plan. As the latter did not eat the 
screenings quite so well, the total quantity eaten by it was 23.66 
pounds, a daily average of 0.876 pound. 

Table 2. — WeUiht.s of .slieep before and after feeding. 



Sheep -N'o. 


Before feeding. 


After feeding. 


Date. 


Pounds . 


Date. 


Pounds. 

1 


542 


July 2 

July 8 


101 
100. 75 


Aug. 3 
Aug. 3 


103 1 


534 


109 1 







As a partial control for this experiment, sheep Nos. 553 and 554 
"Were used. These animals received all the hay they would eat and 
in addition a ration of bran. It was planned to give each 4 ounces 
of bran daily per hundred pounds of animal (this quantity being 
about what an average sheep would eat when receiving a bran ra- 



6 Department Circular 87, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

tion). Sheep No. 553 was fed from July 10 to August 3, receiving 
an average daily ration of 0.3 pound of bran, with a total of 7.3 
pounds. Sheep No. 554 was fed from July 2 to August 3, receiving 
an average daily ration of 0.24 pound of bran, with a total of 8.11 
pounds. 

Table 3. — Weights of sheep before and after feeding. 



Sheep No. 


Before feeding. 


After feeding. 


Date. 


Pounds. 


Date. 


I'ounds. 


553 

554 


July 10 
July 2 


S2 
95.5 


Aug. 3 
Aug. 3 


82.5 
98.5 





These sheep maintained their weight, but did not do quite so well 
as sheep Nos. 542 and 534 which were fed on the sweet-clover screen- 
ings. This might be because the ration of sweet-clover screenings 
was so much larger than the ration of bran. 

SWEET-CLOVER SCREENINGS COMPARED WITH BRAN AS GRAIN RATION. 

In order to make a test of the relative value of bran and sweet- 
clov^er screenings when fed in similar quantities two of the sheep, 
Nos. 537 and 535, were given a daily ration of three-quarters of a 
pound of sweet-clover screenings, and two others, Nos. 515 and 517. 
were given a daily ration of three-quarters of a pound of bran. This 
experiment continued from August 11 to September 27, the animals 
being kept in pasture during the day and receiving the grain ration 
at night. The daily quantity stated was used, as experiment showed 
this to be about the maximum quantity of bran that the animals 
would eat. The average daily quantities consumed by the sheep 
Avere as follows : 

Sbeep No. 537 0.75 pouud screenings. 

Sheep No. 535 0.678 pound screenings. 

Sheep No. 515 0.75 pound bran. 

Sheep No. 517 0.75 pound bran. 

The last sheep. No. 517, received the bran only from August 11 to 
September 5, when it refused to eat it. 

Table 4. — Weu/ht.s uf .^heei) be fort' (iiid after feediny 



Sheep No. 


Feed. 


Before 
feeding. 


After 
feeding. 


537 


Screenings 

....do.... 


Pounds. 
97.5 
103.5 
125 
115 


PouTids. 

103.5 1 

108 

134 

1 118 


535 


515 


Bran 


517... 


..do 







'Weight on September 6, when the animal refused to eat bran. On September 28 the sheep weighed 
122.75 pounds. 



Sweet-Clover Seed Screenings Not Injurious to Sheep. 7 

All the sheep remained in good health and the sheep fed on sweet 
clover did well so far as this experiment is concerned, although it 
was thought that bran was the better feed. 

INFERENCES FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL FEEDING. 

Though it is recognized that broad generalizations should not be 
made from a few experiments, the following conclusions from the 
"work with sweet-clover screenings seem justifiable. 

1. Sweet-clover screenings are not poisonous. 

2. Sweet-clover screenings can be fed to sheep with hay to 

advantage. 

3. Sweet-clover screenings form a good grain feed, but they 

probably are not so good as bran. 



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